Pass It Along

"Pass It Along" is a song by English rock band Chumbawamba, taken from their 2000 studio album What You See Is What You Get. The song’s chorus is based on the Microsoft slogan "Where do you want to go today?"

In 2002, General Motors paid the group between $70,000 and $100,000 for the right to use the song in a television commercial for the Pontiac. Chumbawamba, despite having turned down some previous song-rights offers, accepted the payment from GM, and then donated the money to two consumer advocacy groups which were critical of GM.

Composition[]

The song’s chorus mocks Microsoft’s "Where do you want to go today?” slogan.^[1] In a review of WYSIWYG, AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed the song’s lyrics, along with those of other tracks on the album, "a little obvious."^[1] The song’s time signature is 4/4, and its tempo is 90 beats per minute.^[2]

Media use[]

Initial offer[]

In January 2002, General Motors expressed interest in using "Pass It Along" for its latest advertising campaign for its Pontiac line of cars; the campaign’s slogan was "Pass It On."^[3] The company offered the group a sum of money that has been reported as $70,000, $100,000, and £70,000 for the rights to the song.^[3][4][5] Chumbawamba had previously rejected some requests for the rights to their music, having previously turned down offers of $700,000 and $1 million from General Electric and Nike, respectively, for the use of their music in commercials for an X-ray machine and the 1998 World Cup; the group had, however, consented to license their music for use in the motion picture Home Alone 3, a video game, and a dancing gorilla toy.^[3][4] Boff Whalley, a Chumbawamba member, stated that the group considers the company’s politics and labor practices in deciding to whom to grant rights to their music.^[3]

Group response[]

Upon receiving the offer from General Motors, the group consulted with Indymedia and Corpwatch, two activist groups whom the band supported, to get their advice.^[6] Following their conversation with the activists, Chumbawamaba agreed to General Motors’s offer, and then donated the proceeds to the two charities.^[3][6] A Philadelphia activist with Indymedia told Salon that the organization was initially reluctant to accept the money, given that it had been indirectly provided by a company whose practices they opposed, but they ultimately decided to accept the donation, viewing it as "coming not from GM but from Chumbawamba."^[3] Chumbawamba had previously made similar use of money from licensing deals with Renault in Italy and Ford in South Africa.^[4] The band acknowledged, however, that their decision to grant GM rights to the song was also influenced by the increased exposure their recordings might receive.^[5] Jacobin reflected on the group's decision, calling it "their most subversive use of corporate money".^[7]

Following the group’s announcement of their use of the money, General Motors declined to comment to Salon.^[3] A publicist for GM’s Pontiac told the Guardian that "I didn't know that. I did know [the band] had quite a political background in England. That's very interesting."^[4]

Personnel[]

Adapted from WYSIWYG liner notes.^[8]

• Lou Watts — vocals, keyboards
• Harry Hamer — drums, vocals, programming
• Danbert Nobacon — vocals, banjo
• Dunstan Bruce — vocals
• Jude Abbot — trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals
• Boff Whalley — guitar, vocals
• Alice Nutter — vocals
• Neil Ferguson — bass, keyboards

References[]

External links[]

• View the General Motors commercial on YouTube
• View a release history of the song at Discogs